Turkey responds to Syria chemical weapons warning

Turkey's military has sent teams specially trained in dealing with chemical weapons attacks to the Syrian border region after Syria warned that it could used such weapons against forces from outside the country, Turkish media reports said on Tuesday.

Turkish media reported that the chemical weapons battalion, previously based in western Turkey, had been transferred to Konya in central Turkey two months ago and one group of the personnel had now gone to the Syrian border area.

The agency did not specify a source for the report and officials were not immediately available to comment on it. Other news outlets were also carrying the report.

Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi acknowledged on Monday that the country had chemical weapons, saying it would not use them to crush rebels but could use them against forces from outside the country.